since 1926. and syracuse, new york, with nearly a foot of snow and counting in some areas. and that's where we begin here tonight, with abc's john schriffen leading us off. >> reporter: whiteout conditions in ohio. power poles snapped like twigs in arkansas. and this pickup truck in southern illinois, struggling just to clear a path. the winter blast, now accounting for 15 deaths. most of them on the nation's roads, where black ice led to accident after accident. >> i lost count of the number of cars i've seen in the ditch. i saw a jackknifed tractor trailer. i saw a horse trailer that was turned over. >> reporter: today, the northeast was digging out. this man spent hours trying to rescue his car here in syracuse. what is it like dealing with this much snow? >> a lot of agony. a lot of back breaking. >> reporter: mother nature is also wreaking havoc in the skies. today alone, close to 700 flights were canceled. in the past 48 hours? nearly 3,000. on new york's long island, this southwest airlines plane skidded off the runway, getting stuck in the mud. 129 passengers evacuated

important the holidays. suburban new york newspaper chooses to publish the names and addresses of thousands of private citizens who have legal gun permits. can the mainstream media still claim not to hate all gun owners after a stunt like this? "the kudlow report" starts right now. let's get the latest on the snag on the fiscal cliff talks and surprise news we are going to reach the debt ceiling in days instead of just a few months. john harwood has the details. what's going on? >> not a whole lot of actions going on. although there have been some developments. let me bring our viewers up to date on those. first of all, treasury secretary geithner this afternoon announced the united states would hit the statutory debt limit on monday. that's new year's eve. that's part of an effort to pressure congress to act to raise the debt limit which may or may not be direct limb reply indicated in the fiscal cliff talks but it is relevant to the larger issue of debt and deficits. the treasury can move money around in certain ways to extend the point where we actually reach a crisis for proba

commitment of this administration and the federal government to help in new jersey, and certainly new york, and the region, recover. when we had hurricane katrina on the gulf coast in mississippi and alabama and louisiana, i was there. when we had tornadoes in missouri, i was there. when we had flooding along the mississippi, i was there. when we had cropped instructions in the midwest, i have been there. i believe this is the united states of america. i fully expect that now, for the first time, we have the type of devastation others have suffered and should understand we are going to have the type of response others have received. i would like to get a sense of you as the type of commitment this administration has? >> this is a region i also have roots in. i married a jersey girl. i have worked in new jersey, grew up in new york. besides the personal commitment i have, i also see the president who is on the ground in new jersey almost immediately and has done everything he can to help the short term and has given me the responsibility. you have my commitment we will do that. we will get the p

death marked a money making opportunity take a look at how the new york post decided to cover it pushed on the subway track this man is about to die doomed discussed in the man who took this photo our omar abbassi says that he was on assignment for the new york post covering a story and just happened to be on the subway station at the time and of course he maintains there was nothing he could do take a look at how he defended himself. sort of like. in the distance of the approaching train and the only thing i could think off at that time was the driver with my camera flash. right he was snapping photos to alert the train conductor not sure if that story really sticks look we don't know whether the photographer was thinking about the safety of the man or if like most tabloid photographers he was just looking out for himself and bringing in those big bucks but one thing is clear the new york post decision to make that photo the cover story coupled with their crap you know the one to one of those insensitive despicable headlines is tasteless and downright an ethical but this isn't n

new york. >> good for tina cohen. she took the dog to the vet to be scanned for a microchip and the vet tracked down the owner. she's one happy little owner. >> we're a few days until we ring in the new year. fox news is all america new year's eve starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern on new year's eve. megyn kelly and bill hemmer will bring it to you live from sometime square -- times square in new york city this coming monday. >> that's does it for us, thanks for watching. "studio b" with shepard"studio r starts now. >> the news begins anew on "studio b." the major winter storms that unleashed heavy snow and tornadoes on christmas now barreling towards the northeast. the travel delays are racking up fast. details on that ahead. the tornado threat still in effect for parts of the south after a record number of twisters rocked that region. we'll have much more on that in a moment. >>> plus, the president cutting his holiday vacation short to try to hammer out a deal on the fiscal cliff. where do we stand with six days to go? that's all ahead unless breaking news changes everything on "stud

terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 13th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm bill weir. you remember way back when reality television was the way people described the nightly news? the unscripted genre has completely changed the landscape inside the screen you're watching right nower but how has it altered the meaning of the word reality? today the wildly popular auction show "storage wars" is under fire from an ex-star who says they are faking some of the big money shots. abc's dan harris separates fact from fiction. >> bring it on. >> 250! >> sold. >> reporter: it is one of the most popular reality shows on tv. "storage wars" has a simple addictive conceit. people bid on the contents of storage lockers that have been abandoned by their owners. >> oh, my gosh! >> what happened? >> there's a body in there. >> reporter: inside they find either the worthless things of people's lives. >> what's this? >> not good. >> reporter: or hidden treasures. >> silver silverware set. >> reporter: one of the stars is this guy, david hester, known as the

the gulf coast who live with these things regularly. new york state, as you know, suffered nearly $7.3 billion in transportation-related damages due to superstorm sandy. of that total, the new york mta suffered about 5 billion in dages. it's huge. i never saw anything like it. we have the longest underground tunnel in the world in the brooklyn battery tunnel. i take it almost every day i'm in new york city because my home in brooklyn is connected to it. it was totally filled with water. both tubes, from one end to the other, from the manhattan end to the brooklyn end. ere were close to 100 million gallons of water that had to be pumped out of that tunnel and it's still not back up to snuff. that's one of many examples. there's so many. the mta did a very good job. i want to congratulate joe lhota. they moved their rolling stock to high ground. tried to barricade this awful flood in the best way they could. boy, it's awful. the mta is the largest public transportation system in the country. it's the life blood of new york. it's our circulatory system. 3.5 million people g on and of

pittsburgh and new york. man: new york city went to philadelphia and said, "you know, we're thinking of developing a hudson river water supply -- what do you suggest we do?" and they said, "we've had "a lot of problems on the schuylkill. "don't go to the hudson river. go to the upland and work by gravity." and that's what new york city did. they first went to the hudson highlands, but 150 years later, it went to the delaware highlands. and really diverted the water that normally went to philadelphia to new york city. i don't think they anticipated that. narrator: the majority of new york city's drinking water comes from watersheds in upstate new york. a watershed is the area of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water. mountains act as a funnel to feed rivers and lakes. and in this case, reservoirs. in the new york city system, water is collected and stored in 19 reservoirs, which can hold more than a year's supply -- over 580 billion gallons of water. almost all of the system is fed by gravity, without the use of energy-consuming pumps. valves ope

world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening, i'm natalie morales in tonight for brian. and we begin with serious winter weather that is moving east. rain, snow and wind that is snarling a lot of travel plans for those trying to make it home from holiday travels. it is the same storm system that is responsible for at least three deaths and spawned record-setting tornadoes in the south over the past 24 hours. we have it all covered, and we begin with the experts who are always out in the middle of these storms. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is just outside buffalo, new york. good evening to you, mike. >> hey, natalie. in buffalo, they're known for the snow. they average 8 feet of snowfall a season. but so far this year, they've only had 6 1/2 inches, leaving many to wonder, where's the white? that's all changing this evening. a major snowstorm has dumped over a foot of snow across parts of the midwest. indiana got hit hard. high winds adding to the misery there. >> it's a lot better with the four-wheel drive, but yeah, it'

the upstate new york. the icy snow is a challenge for those who only have a shovel. >> it's been brutal. >> reporter: the storm drops several inches in the northeast and new england making it hard to get out and get around. streets are a problem in west virginia and maryland. this woman skit off the road and hit a mailbox. >> we just lost control. yeah, pretty scary. >> reporter: the weather is part of the same mass av system that crossed the country this week dumping snow from the west coast to the east coast and creating powerful tornadoes in the south. bad weather continues to delay flights in the northeast. that's bad news for holiday travelers trying to head home. brendan frank lip came home for christmas and is waiting to fly back to arizona. >> mercifully it's so far, so good. >> bob akard is from tampa, florida. he spent the holidays with his parents in rochester, new york. he's hoping to get to the airport on time. >> living in tampa isn't all bad at all. >> reporter: the storm is now moving into new england and into canada. forecasters say more snow could hit the east c

new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening, i'm natalie morales in for brian. just how bad is the situation in washington with only five days left before we reach the fiscal cliff? in a highly unusual move, lawmakers are being called back to work during this holiday week. but if today was any indication, it doesn't appear congressional leaders are ready to play nice, as they continue to play the blame game and point fingers at each other. meanwhile, many americans are feeling high anxiety, knowing those automatic spending cuts and tax hikes will impact every single one of us if there is still no deal by monday night. we begin our coverage with nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, natalie. the mood here really feels like resignation, that the fiscal cliff deadline will come and go, and no agreement reached. democrats and republicans say they want progress, but there is nothing to report. but there are plenty of recriminations about which party is to blame. the president left his family in ha

? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. >>> "nightline" continues from new york city with juju chang. >> well let's see there's the profanity spewing father and his nemesis the basement furnace. there's the younger brother and the school bully and at the center of it all it's ralphie, the boy who want asbe bee gun and the story that has become a hit broadway show. today ralphie is all groan up. and here is abc's neal karlinsky with another look. >> reporter: whether you celebrate christmas or not there are as few movies as celebrates in the holidays as this one. >> what do you want for christmas little boy? >> reporter: "a christmas story" is the eggnog of cinema. >> you will shoot your eye out kid. ho-ho-ho. >> reporter: most know him as ralphie, the boy with big eyes and wide expression forever linked to the role of a kid who wants nothing more than a beebe gun for christmas. >> did you want a beebe gun or not so much? >> i had a beebe gun before that. >> reporter: today ralphie is all grown up. he is peter billingsley. >> are you surprised that people still recognize yo

cities of the northeast. as it continues to move, the heaviest snow will be moving from new york into new england. slides off the coast and is done by sunday morning. >> it's a one-two punch for the millions of americans planning to travel this weekend? >> absolutely. and a lot of snow is falling on places that already had snow. across the midwest, three to six inches of snow. washington may have rain mixed in, so juch slush. philadelphia, one to three. new york city, two to four. boston and providence, three to six or a little more and heavy and weight, which will make travel saturday afternoon and night very difficult. >> our thanks to you. >>> we'll turn now to a late development. after that horrific case from upstate new york, those firearm called to knock down that blaze and then trapped in gunfire on christmas eve. the suspect killing himself and then to now, an arrest, a woman in custody. we ask tonight, what's her connection? >> reporter: police say 24-year-old dawn nguyen supplied the guns used to ambush four firefighters on christmas eve, killing two of them. >> when nguyen

conversationalist and became a striking young woman then she had her debut in new york. she came back a few years later. nothing could out do the flurry of excitement that hetty encountered the fall of 1860. this city shimmered with the news as the prince of wales was coming. a group of leading citizens was organizing a ball. society trimmed their moustaches women spent hours and at 9:00 p.m. friday october 12th couples who had paid $10 apiece arrived at the academy of music. men with white ties and women with hoopskirt its with brocade, sat tin, lead tools, gave special nods to precisely at 10:00 p.m. the orchestra played god save the queen and the small prints stepped into the room. nearly 3,000 of new york's finest citizens rushed to meet him and with the rash the wooden floor collapsed. the band played furiously the aghast rushed to follow they had lobster salad, pat day and filled glasses with champagne. at 2:00 with their dance floor fixed eager females waited their turn for a dance and finally the young woman was tapped. stunning in her low cut white gown with pink and her

. >> a woman is in jail tonight charged with pushing a man to his death in front of a new york city subway train. she was charged with the murder as a hate crime in the death of the man. he was killed thursday. the detectives arrested the woman yesterday after somebody spotted a woman who resembled the person seen on surveillance tape after the incident. >> the lawyer for a 6-year-old survivor of the school shooting in newtown, conn., is speaking out tonight one to sue the state for failing to provide a safe setting. he says it is not just a problem in connecticut. >> the state of connecticut and other states, too, are failing to protect children from guns. her friends are dead, and that is trauma. >> the student in the case has not been identified. >> two police officers involved in a gunbattle with a suspect in new jersey are out of the hospital tonight. a third officer underwent surgery for stomach was and is expected to recover. the suspect was in sight of a police station when he wrestled the gun away from one of the officers and started shooting. two officers fired back. the m

in new york city. we learned he came to manhattan november 23rd studying times square, wall street and broadway theater. officials say he was lone wolf. he returned to south florida where they intercepted him. >>> and the dow jones. what is on the table tonight? is a deal close? how does it affect your family? jonathan karl here with that. jon? >> reporter: with everybody's taxes at stake here, both sides have made big concessions to try to get a deal. president obama has agreed to limit the cost of living increases for people getting koeshl security. somebody retiring this year. that could mean $130 a year by 2013 and less that have. a big deal for democrats. meanwhile from republicans, speaker boehner has agreed to raise tax rates on the wealthy. specifically those making $1 million a year. there are 280,000 people making that much a year. and alex rodriguez, made $30 million. next year alone, he could pay $1.3 million more in taxes. i got to tell you, despite the concessions on both sides there are is pes mismg here about getting to a deal. the officials will work on a backup de

over here. >> hey, ma. i see you, hey. all of new york sees you. >> oh, my god. >> good to see you. >> look at you. oh, my god. oh, my god, you're wearing a sports jacket. >> yeah, i am. >> how did you know to buy a sports jacket? >> i took a class in it. >> you left the price tag on it. j. crew? my fancy shmancy son. >> that's me. >> i'll just keep it in case it goes on sale. >> a really touching movie. i find it very moving. it moved me to tears at one stable, but it's also very funny. you must have had a ball doing it? >> yeah, if you like. if you like working that much, yeah, it was fun. it actually was fun. >> do you hate all work basically? >> no. >> what do you like doing? >> i love -- i love making movies, actually. and i love recording. that's what i love. >> you don't like performing in front of people. >> that's odd. >> it is strange. >> i never know what to do during the applause. i don't know what to do. it's like, oh, all right, let's go on to the next thing. it's a strange thing to be live in front of people. >> you consider yourself to be primarily an actress that s

be afoot to have closer to the new york stock exchange so that their computer can do i mean this this is got nothing to do with thinking about what's a good investment this this seems like it's scrambling our country so let's start with high frequency trading and anybody want to take a how about not bailing these guys out and let them invest at their own risk and how about just having rather have a tax policy that is trying to manipulate behavior why not have a simple tax policy that raises revenue to pay for the government doesn't all tax policy manipulate behavior so less that one of the major major purposes of tax policy it's not a major purpose of tax policy all taxes manipulate behavior but let's try to keep that to a minimum keep the tax base simple and broad why not why not use tax policy to reduce behavior this destructive to the economy that's pleasures rashes and i don't think i mean do you know would you have a problem i mean do you have a problem with the fact that there are robots making millions of trades every minute on wall street and. we saw in the flash crash of two

! yahoo! shareholders on the run. connell: time to go back to the new york stock exchange and get a check on the markets. nicole: let's take a look at a mover. stocks now every 15 minutes. we have a big winner here. big lots. the stock is up 7.8% right now. they have a list of headlines. that is some good news there. they raised their full earnings production. interestingly enough, their ceo is set to retire. he will be stepping down. he won't do so until a successor is found. they are on the search for a new ceo. as far as our major market averages, they are down fractionally. names that are under pressure include american express, at&t, hewlett-packard, i am sorry, that is home depot, and, also, jpmorgan. we were building into december, the month of december is the best performing month of the year. many know that. average returns are 1.7% to the upside. this date all the way back to 1950. december is a stellar year for the s&p 500. connell: a lot more still to come. we have this multibillion dollar judgment against yahoo!. investors now on the run. dagen: reggstering a record yea

. forecasters expect up to a foot and a half of snow through new york and new england over the next 24 hours or so as a mighty nor'easter bears down. the powerful storm left a mess in the deep south as you saw including the tornado damage in alabama and record snowfall in arkansas. tens of thousands throughout the south and midwest still without power. more than 1400 flights canceled as of this evening and travelers are advised that it is delegate to get worse. the storm system has already been blamed for at least six deaths. the nasty weather is causing chaos in the skies with flyers seeing huge delays in more than 1300 flights already canceled. tonight listen to one pilot as he apologizes for something that he couldn't even control. here is abc 7 news reporter lisa stark. >> reporter: for tens of thousands of travelers scrambling to get home any holiday cheer is gone. frustration even boiling over in the cockpit. one american airlines pilot talking to passengers was clearly fed up after nearly five hours onboard waiting to take off. >> it is beyond reroach. i have no words to tell yo

the floor of the new york stock exchange. markets closing higher on optimism that lawmakers may be close to a deal on the fiscal cliff. wall street, triple-digit gain, up 120 point on the industrial average. banks in the lead, 13,353. last trade in the dow jones industrial average on volume which was modest. nasdaq composite up and 3053 and the s&p 500 picks up 16 points, better than 1% on the standard & poor's at 1446. markets continuing higher at the close. are there more gains ahead? we bring in right now liz ann sanders from charles schwab and alan gael and eric steuben from russell investment, darryl pearl from epoch investments standing by who will give us a reaction to the oracle earnings once those numbers cross the wires. they should be coming out momentarily. here's the number to look for, 61 cents a share on earnings is what we're expecting on revenue of 9.02 billion. as soon as we get the numbers we'll see how oracle is doing. liz ann sanders, deal or no deal? what's your take on all of this? >> we'll have a deal. in the first step of the process and then whatever the m

every day. remember this last month? new york police officer made news by offering a homeless man his shoes on a cold night. a tennessee boy helps his brother in a wheelchair compete in a triathlon. people doing good. i'm victor blackwell at the headquarters in atlanta. >>> a small town smothered in grief and a nation in disbelief. i'm candy crowley in newtown, connecticut. >>> today, the unthinkable at sandy hook elementary school. >> you can never be prepared for this kind of incident. >> the latest on the investigation with connecticut governor dan malloy, and then grief and guns. a conversation with the colorado govern governor. plus, experts on keeping school safe coping with trauma and profiling a mass murderer, all on this special edition of "state of the union." first, the latest on the newtown murders. this morning connecticut's chief medical examiner will perform autopsies on the gunman and his mother, who was killed at her home. the results will be released during a news conference later today. the names of the victims were made public last night. 12 girls and 8 boys killed

clip. >> i'm over here! honey. >> hey, ma. >> i'm over here. >> i see you. all of new york sees you. >> oh, my god. >> good to see you. >> look at you. >> look at me. >> oh, my god. you're wearing a sports jacket. how did you know where to even buy a sports jacket? >> i took a class. >> oh, my god. you left the price tag on. j. crew, my fancy schmancy son. i'm going to keep it in case it goes on sale. it was a touching movie. it moved me to tears. it's also funny. you had a ball doing it, didn't you? >> if you like -- yeah, yeah. if you like working that much. yeah, it was fun. it actually was fun. >> do you hate all work? >> no. >> what do you like doing? >> i love making movies actually. i love recording. that's what i love. >> you don't like performing in front of people. >> that's odd. >> it is strange. >> i never know what to do during the applause. i don't know what to do. oh, okay. all right. let's go on to the next thing. it's a strange thing to be live in front of people. >> you consider yourself to be an actress that sings. >> mm-hmm. >> many people would think you're argu

radar you see heavy snow. into the southern tier of new york moving into buffalo. what's going to happen with this system is the main low is going to transfer its energy to the coast and that is going to become the primary storm that's going to rise up the eastern seaboard and probably pretty significant places below. but even the major i-95 cities like new york, philly and boston will see significant snow from this. >> what happens here? how much worse is it here than in the rest of the country? >> well, you know, this storm was fairly weak before nowhere near as strong as the last one was. this is finally getting its act together. >> get our shovels and boots out? that's the idea? >> yeah. and as far as the snowfall totals we're expecting to see, probably the major cities could get in on the action. that's how different it was from the last system. so new york city three, four, five inches of snow not out of the question. upstate new york especially where it's a little colder, but as we head toward southeastern new england, that's where the real bull's eye could be. some places

by the suspected shooter that killed two firefighters christmas eve in new york. here's nbc's ron mott with more details. >> reporter: police say the christmas eve ambush of four volunteer firefighters attacked as they arrived to battle a fire in new york. >> was a rage be interno out there. >> reporter: it was spell out in chilling details. >> quotes, i still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood i can burn down, and doing what i like doing best, killing people. >> reporter: authorities say 62-year-old william spengler who spent time for killing his grandmother more than 30 years ago, shot at firefighters. the. >> we're being shot at. multiple firemen down. i am shot. i think he used an assault rifle. >> killing people. >> reporter: officials say the gunman was well fortified. .38 handgun. .12-gauge shotgun and the bushmaster rifle. firefighters, tomasz kaczowka and mike chiapperini were killed. human remains were found in spengler's abandoned house. >> it's the question and we'll know know what was going through his mind. >> reporter: police are investigating whe

the media is barely cleaning up the cleanup efforts. in new york city, they're living in third world conditions, raw sewage continues to flow into water ways. thousands still have no power and direct subway service is not expected to return into the middle of next year. >> we were up to five feet of water. it was not water but it was all cesspool so it was sewage water. >> how much can a body tank. >> blankets, two socks three sweaters and gloves. >> they have got garbage they're cleaning in other areas and putting it on the beach here, yet we have still have garbage here. >> it's the way life is. >> jennifer: thousands of volunteers have flocked to the rockaways to help with the cleanup efforts tonight coming from new york, dr. sabaya, welcome to the war room. >> i'm having difficulty hearing you. >> jennifer: i can hear you, just a little bit faint. >> a little bit faint. hopefully they can turn up your microphone because you have important things to say. >> yes. >> jennifer: you spent a year doing development work in rural afternoonafrica. how surprised were you by the conditions

, this is a town about 60 miles from new york city. it covers, newtown about 60 square miles, it's the fifth larger town in the state. back to chris and clint, we know what's happening inside according to reports, but also outside, they have requested that parents come and gather their kids. the question to you, clint, might be, is now the right time for that and what does that tell you, the fact that they're asking parents to actually come to the site? is there the children are going to be scared, frightened, they don't know what took place, unfortunately, even though our children see murders take place, see shootings take place on television, this is real life. so i think what they want to do is satisfy the urgent need for parents, number one, 20 know their children are safe and to put those children back in the arms of their parents, their care givers again so that family situation, that loving family situation can help get them past this. there's going to be cadhallenge children are going to suffer ptsd in this. >> stand by one second, clint, as you know, we're getting information

kringel or grinch gridlock? we make our bets tonight. >> welcome to the nasdaq markets in new york city's time square. here are tonight's top trades. only a few more days to say "deal or no deal." what about the big dividend players? tech turnaround staging a comeback leading the rally. and two opinions. a debate on bank of america. were you a buyer or seller today? >> technicals say you have to be a buyer. we talked ability 1425 being resistance on the way up. it was a few times and third time up went through it. now the market sets up to go anywhere between the highs we saw in 2000, 1550ish and the highest in 2009, 2007, excuse me when we publish up to 1550 as well. somewhere between 1500 and 1550, that's where we're headed. >> you need a horseshoe or hand grenade for that? >> you want me to narrow it down? 1505 to 1545 there, wise guy, trying to create the tension, i know, but that's where we're headed. >> where were you? >> up eight days in a row and euro yen at one year highs. people are putting risk. we haven't gone through this rotation on equities in debt. >> the thing i can't get

was the chaotic scene on long island, new york, today. the expressway cluttered with ambulances. two dozen cars strewn about. it's believed the crash was caused by a tractor trailer striking other vehicles, which burst into flames. one person has died. 18 others were taken to the hospital to be treated. >>> and coming up here, a rope made of bed sheets. two inmates use them to break out of prison, from 17 stories high. how did they do it? [ male announcer ] introducing centrum flavor burst adult multivitamins... a delicious new way to get essential vitamins you need. just bite into the tasty shell... to a chewy vitamin core for a unique multivitamin sensation! new centrum flavor burst. for a unique multivitamin sensation! we've decided to we're all having such a great year in the gulf, put aside our rivalry. 'cause all our states are great. and now is when the gulf gets even better. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride or just lay in the sun. enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty. and don't forget our amazing seafood. so come to the gulf, you'll have a

webster, new york, on the shores of lake ontario. and so we begin tonight with abc's paula faris. >> reporter: the fire broke out just before sunrise. the 9-1-1 call at 5:35 a.m., in sleepy webster, new york. two firefighters sped to the scene in their engine, two others drove their own cars. but when they moved in to battle the blaze, gunfire. >> reporting three firefighters injured. one taking cover in a crashed fire truck. two have been down in the street and they're serious. >> reporter: police now say it was all a trap. that a gunman was laying in wait for the first responders to arrive. all four firefighters were shot. >> fireman mike chiapperini, who is also a lieutenant with the webster police department, was deceased at the scene. >> reporter: 43-year-old chiapperini was named the webster fire department's firefighter of the year just two weeks ago. also slain, tomasz kaczowka. the department calls him a tremendous young man. >> these people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires. they don't expect to be shot and killed. >> reporter: webster police have id

optimism that it can be cone in time. jonathan karl, abc news, new york. >>> tributes are pouring in for retired general norman schwartzcopf. the general, nicknamed stormin' norman, died yesterday in tampa from pneumonia. he commanded a coalition of some 30 countries that drove iraqi forces from kuwait back in 1991. in retirement, he supported charitable causes and resisting calls to rub for public office. norman schwartzcopf was 78. >>> for the second time this month, a man has been pushed to his death in the path of a new york subway train. last night, a woman shoved the man on the tracks just as the train was pulling into the station on queens. it's not clear if she knew the victim. new york police are reviewing surveillance video recorded on the platform to try to identify the victim and the suspect. >> this is the second time this happened this month. the first one happened in times square. this one happened in queens. i love the fact that new york city has a subway system. but every time i'm putting my back against the wall. >> you're not the only one. there are people now that

they hit puddles or something. >> reporter: across the country in syracuse, new york, plows are working overtime, dealing with two consecutive days of snow this weekend, leave thing car stuck with no place to go. >> the weather was bad. the winds were blowing the cars around. you could see the semis were swerving. >> reporter: it's the city's first snowstorm of the season. many are bracing for more to come. >> if you wanted a white christmas, there you go. >>> the gulf coast is even bracing for the worst. >> including some christmas week tornadoes, believe it or not. andrew has the latest now from accuweather. >> while most of the nation will be relatively tranquil for the holidays, we're tracking one disturbance that will give us unsettled weather across portions of the gulf coast. late tonight, the houston area, we'll see thunderstorms popping up, spreading eastward throughout your christmas tuesday. louisiana, mississippi, alabama, georgia, interstates 10 and 20, torrential downpours, the threat for tornadoes. so a very destructive storm system on this saturday. the highest threat fo

tv as we look tpwhind scenes at the literary life of new york's capital city albany. >> senators from new york and new jersey say hurricane sandy caused $5 billion worth of damage to rail subway and port infrastructure in their state. they testified on surface transportation yesterday. >> i call this hearing to order. thank you for joining us, mr. secretary. i asked you to testify today because i'm deeply concerned about the recent report that the f.h.a. could potentially need taxpayer support for the first time in its 78-year history. i would like you to help the committee gain insight into the fiscal challenges at the f.h.a. and what h.u.d. has done and can do to mitigate losses and address the shortfall in the capital reserve ratio. f.h.a. has been helping save lives of the mortgage market by ensuring that qualified lower to moderate income and first time home buyers have access to credit since 1934. since the beginning of the financial crisis, the f.h.a. has increased its market share from below 5% in 2006 to about 30% at its peak volume in 2009, in pursuant of that mission.

cancelled and the huge storm is now expected to dump up to 18 inches of snow from new york to maine. >> wow, wow. look at the tornado. >> definitely not a silent night for people in the southeastern united states between texas and mississippi. national weather service reported a record 34 tornadoes on christmas day. dozens of homes destroyed. and at least six deaths blamed on the storm. a state of emergency declared in mississippi. >> the chance of finding a mess yj in a bottle made a homeless man's holiday unforgetable. he found a message in the bottle and he tru threw it in a creek. the message for free tickets to the oakland zoo. a young homeless man found it and asked us not to show his face. >> has a note that says. >> you still have it?. >> yes. i carry it. i asked them instead of tickets if i was to get some food. >> dan only too happy to provide food and has given him warm clothing and a bicycle. he's just 27 and wants people to know he is does not want a handout, just a chance to go to work. >> nice tld story. >> yes. >> there is more still to come here on abc 7 news at 6:0